Goiter: causes and dietary management

What is goiter?

Goiter is an abnormality characterized by malfunctioning of thyroid gland (present just in front of neck) due to which the thyroid becomes enlarged. It is not a cancerous condition but is an abnormality which cause disturbance in normal metabolism.

Causes:
The cause of goiter can be different:
• It is due to iodine deficiency.
• It can be due to lack of thyroid hormones, hypothyroidism.
• Due to excessive production of thyroid hormones, hyperthyroidism.

Among all these causes, the most common cause is iodine deficiency. Iodine is an essential mineral require by the human body for proper functioning. The common source of iodine is the vegetables grown in soil which is rich in iodine but if the soil has poor iodine content then the vegetables also have low or no iodine in them.
Mediterranean people are the most suspected to goiter as their diet is majorly comprised of vegetables.

Effective foods for thyroid patient:

• Iodized salt is a cheap solution to this disorder.
• Seaweed ash is also used for this purpose.
• Increase the use of water cress.
• Lack of thyroid hormone is compensated by swap cabbage.
• Phanera variegate (khacnaar) is proofed very beneficial in this case.
• Treatment with flax seed is also very effective treatment.

First five day diet:
As the treatment starts, use only citrus fruit juices, apple juice, grapes juice, pineapple juice after the interval of 3 hour and eat nothing except it.

Next five days:
For the next five days take one glass of milk and one fruit serving after the interval of 5 hours thrice a day. Any other thing is not recommended just go for milk and fruits.
• Take 8-10 glass of water with this prescribed diet and exercise for at least 30 minutes per day.